Rothschild Investment LLC Trims Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Rothschild Investment LLC lessened its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 34 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DE. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 27.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,518,000 after purchasing an additional 988,380 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 53,338.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $356,602,000 after purchasing an additional 852,885 shares during the period. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after purchasing an additional 540,874 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $148,359,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $454.65.

Deere & Company Stock Down 1.2 %

DE opened at $489.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $133.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $452.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $421.97. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $515.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.